La vie en rose
by PunchHilda
Summary: An AU in which there are no Wendigos, and Hannah and Beth live. Pairing: Josh x Reader. You are spending a few days at the ski lodge of the Washington's with your friends. Hoping that one of them will become more than that.


You were at the ski lodge of the Washington's with your friends. After what happened last year, you hadn't actually believed that all of you would get together like this again.

Mike and the others played a horrible prank on Hannah, who consequently ran away into the night, Beth racing after her. Those two were your best friends, so of course you followed them. After some time you found them sitting in the snow. Beth was holding Hannah close to her and rubbing her back comforting.

"Shhhh, shhhhh... everything's going to be alright, sis", Beth repeated a few times. She looked up at you, when she heard your footsteps. The wind was rough and blew your (h/c) hair into your face. You brushed them back and knelt down to them. Hannah was a picture of misery. She was crying and shaking and clenching onto her sister.

"I-I thought he was... I thought he really liked me...", she mumbled between two sobs.

You crawled closer to them and lay your arms around Hannah. You had an idea of what happened, the note you found told you all you needed to know.

It took a lot of persuasion to get Hannah to stand up and go back to the lodge. Needless to say that Beth and you were furious with the others.

This incident led to a temporary break up of the group and to you not seeing anybody of them except the twins, Josh, Sam and Chris.

A few months later you met on neutral territory, namely a coffee shop. You spoke about everything, Mike and the others apologized (though you didn't really believe Emily) and you got to a friendly level again, almost like it was before that night.

And now you are here again. Exactly one year after the prank. It feels strange, but good at the same time. It was Josh's idea to bring the gang back together and have some nice days.

You breath in deeply. The firewood smells sweet and the little cracking noises it makes comfort you. Oh how you've missed it! Your (e/c) look around the room. Resting a few seconds on each of your friends. There are two new couples in your group: Emily and Matt, and Jess and Mike.

Emily is ranting about something Matt had said or done (or hadn't done) and Matt is just enduring it. Their relationship doesn't seem to contain of something else. You wonder why Matt is dating Emily. He is such a nice guy and she is, well, a massive bitch. You feel bad for Matt, but to be honest, he is grown-up and has to know what's best for him.

Your eyes wander to the rest of the group. Jess and Mike are flirting with each other, Chris is joking around with Chris and Ashley. The twins are in the kitchen, getting more drinks.

And then there is Josh.

He has always been a good friend. Always making you laugh, protecting you and just basically being there for you. You are so happy to have him. Plus, he's hot. Especially in the warm glow of the fireplace. Which underlines his brown eyes, that now seem almost golden, perfectly.

You could have gone on and on with your admiration for this beautiful man, but something distracts you: Josh.

He seems to have caught you looking, or rather staring, at him, because he is now grinning at you knowingly. But instead of mocking you, he just winks at you and gives you the sweetest smile.

"Hey, (Y/N)! Are you listening?", Chris asks and snaps you out of your trance. You blink a few times and look at him. He waves his hand before your face to get your attention.

"Huh?", is all you can produce.

With a quick glance you look over to Josh again, who has a wide grin on his face and takes a sip from his beer bottle.

Looking back at Chris you realize that he exactly knows who you were looking at. Thankfully he didn't say anything, just grins and repeats his question: "In a fight between Big Foot and E.T., who would win?"

What? That was one of the silliest questions you've ever heard. But also an interesting one.

"From the movies?", you ask in return.

"Yeah", Chris answers.

"Well, then it's easy. Both are peaceful. So there won't be any fight", is your answer.

Mike joins the conversation.

"Yeah, but Big Foot CAN fight if he wants to. So if it really got down to it, Big Foot would win. Case closed!"

He is dead serous about this and you can't help but laugh. You almost forgot how good you two got along before last year. And to be honest, you miss him. This getaway is perfect to have a private conversation about your friendship, you think to yourself, just as Jessica interrupts.

"Really guys? That is so stupid. Let's do something more... fun", she says with a mischievous smile.

Jessica takes an empty bottle, sits down on the floor and gestures the others to do the same. At this moment Beth and Hannah come back. Going by the look on their faces, they know what is going to happen now. And you know that this could end embarrassing for Hannah. At some point of this game of spin the bottle, some idiot will hint at the prank last year and Hannah's feelings for Mike.

You decide to stand up and walk over to the twins.

"You don't have to do this, Hannah", you whisper to her, "We could just go upstairs or into the kitchen and have a nice chat with some food."

Hannah looks at the others, that are gathering in a circle around the bottle. Only you, the twins and Josh are missing. Her look tells you that she is torn back and forth between playing a game with your friends, and not having to remember that night again. This inner dispute is ended, when Josh joins you.

"Come on girls, let's go to the kitchen", he says, laying his hand on your back to guide you out of the room. His touch sends a chill down your spine and you lean a bit into his side.

The three of you nod in agreement and head to the kitchen.

"Aaaaw, come on guys! Don't be such party poopers, join us!", Mike calls.

"Or are you afraid?", Emily taunts.

"Afraid? Of what? We already know who had a crush on who, and who is together. The rest is boring", you reply.

"Oh, do we?" Chris grins at you, than at Josh and wiggles his eyebrows. In return you send him an "don't-you-dare"-look and walk out.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, you take two cold bottles of beer out of the refrigerator and hand one to Josh. He bows to you as thanks and you curtsy to him in return. Laughing you sit down next to each other at the counter. He is so warm. You have always loved that fact about him. When you were kids, he used to wrap you up in blankets and cuddle you to keep you warm in winter. It was even better when you stayed at the lodge, because then he would do the same but in front of the fireplace. You miss that time.

"What are you thinking about, (Y/N)? You seem so faraway today", Josh asks.

"Oh, nothing really. Just the old times, you know? This place brings back so many memories.", you sigh and look around.

"Especially the ones where you were so drunk you fell asleep right on the spot. Mostly the counter."

You lay your head on his shoulder and laugh when you saw how he playfully made a sulky face.

"Not everybody has the talent to find the way to their bed, no matter how drunk they are. At least people don't see me stumble and waver around like a sailor on shore leave, my dear", Josh replies and mimics your wavering way of walking when you are drunk. You just grumble.

"Aw, come on, (Y/N)! I'm just Joshing ya!" He puts an arm around your shoulders and ruffles you (h/c) hair. You struggle to get away from him, but only manage to do so after a minute or two. Your hair looks a mess right now and you throw him a rather unimpressed glance. But not for long. With a huge grin on your face, you ruffle his hair as well. He only tries halfheartedly to keep you from doing so. After all, you have always been the only one who was allowed to touch his hair.

Your little game ends with Josh holding you tight to his chest, thus making you unable to move. You're so close to each other, you can feel his warm breath on your face, his heart beating against yours. Quicker than you wanted, he lets you down and clears his throat.

Well, that was a bit awkward, considering that his sisters are still in the same room.

"Okay...", Beth breaks the silence, "What do we want to do?"

Thankful for this distraction you look around the room, but find nothing that was slightly interesting except for more alcohol. You shrug your shoulders.

Hannah rubbed the back of her head. "Listen, you don't have to stay here with me. It's okay if you join the others. I don't want to keep you from having fun."

It is obvious that she is pretty uncomfortable with the situation. Beth lay an arm around her sister.

"She's right, you two should go. I'm keeping an eye on her", she says and nods at you.

"Are you sure?", you ask. On one hand you really want to play spin the bottle with the others, on the other, you don't want to leave Hannah alone. However Beth is with her. The two assure you again, that it is okay. When Josh hesitates to go back to the living room, you take his hand and lead the way.

Before you reach the living room, Josh stops and gently pulls on your hand, so to make you face him.

He gets a little closer to you, just standing there for a few seconds. Finally he takes you into his arms and hugs you. One hand gently caresses you (h/c) hair.

He withdraws after a few seconds and looks at you with such a warm and caring smile that makes your heart melt.

Right as he opens his mouth to say something, the door to the living room opens and Matt looks at you.

"Oh hey... Am I interrupting you?", he asks.

Is it that obvious that Josh just gave you the best hug ever?

The two of you shake your heads.

"Alright... So, you're coming, or not?"

"Sure", Josh replies and you two follow Matt into the room.


End file.
